Today is October 31, 2010. There are two big significant annual acknowledgments of the day: my parents wedding anniversary (51 years this year) and, of course, our family's first Christmas movie night of the season tradition.
Mom and Dad were planning on coming over here to go out for dinner with us and we were all looking forward to it. My Mr. even planned, yes PLANNED out the afternoon and everything. Unfortunately, Mom wasn't feeling well, so they had to cancel.
Picking up the slack, we made a day out of an unexpected and unplanned weekend afternoon. We had a lot of fun making our rounds: Strawberry Street Cafe for bathtub salad, For the Love of Chocolate for movie treats, Maymont Park for a walk in the setting sun and home to watch our Christmas movie. I love our little family traditions like this, quirky as they may be, and I can't wait to do it again next year.
Because every life has a story, specializing in life UN-posed.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
My three guys
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Can I crush the ducks?
No, you can't.
But how do you stop a little boy from throwing stones into the lake? And why would you do anything to stop the fun from flowing faster than the sun was setting? I wouldn't and I didn't.
We had a wonderful time frolicking through colored leaves and pebbled lake front sand.
It was almost too much to take in-so much of God's beauty and priceless creation all in one spot.
The sunset and my son doing everything except setting. Good times!
Friday, October 22, 2010
The perils of a snap shot {Tooth Fairy Tales}
Freckles and cookie crumbs clear as day. I took my first love (Canon 300D) out for a stroll this afternoon. Oh, how I love this camera! Yeah, it's the dinosaur of dslrs by all standards, but I DO love it and here it's easy to see why. Clear as a bell. And the kid is pretty cute too. The only downfall to the afternoon was our neighbor's son inquiring about the Tooth Fairy to our son. He cannot tell a lie! ;)
Wait, what season is it again?
A. Summer
B. Winter
C. Spring
D. Autumn
Answer: D
October 21, 2010 and 75 degrees. I think even the trees are confused. Gorgeous day out there, but it's hard to believe that it's the middle of autumn!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Uh-Oh, spagehetti...
Uh-oh, spaghetti-o: You know how it goes. Tonight I was surprised. Tonight is the night that my wonderful, handsome son was escorting a pretty young lady to her homecoming. I helped him shop for his outfit and because that's not easy when you're a 6'3" big guy with size 16 feet, I told him to tell her what color HE was wearing and to follow suit. :) After making all of our final choices we decided that he could wear Dad's dress shoes, socks and belt-but we picked out a new tie. There he was in the dressing room at Kohls fitted nicely. Finally. Jokingly answering his muse I told him I was so far from crying due to the stinky baseball cap glued to his head. Later that week as we passed the school I started singing (and signing while driving, is that wrong?) "It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A." I see you doing it too. My all knowing teenager chided me saying that they don't play that song at dances anymore. So, I made him a friendly bet and kindly told him that I expected a phone call when the Village People showed up, and that I would be happy to bring him home early so he didn't have to listen to that old stuff! I doubt my phone will be ringing but not because he's not wailing his arms through the air in common motion.
This afternoon we were across town at Whole Foods for lunch. We had headed out of the parking lot as he remembers he wanted to pick up some flowers. Now, we'd already covered that too; she said they didn't give corsages for Homecoming...apparently he and I received different messages here. Back into the store we go. She got a beautiful pink/peach bouquet of fresh cut flowers and I got a bag of dried up but spicy scented pine cones. Sigh.
We came home and Mitchel did his thing: shower, relax, panic when at 6:20 the electricity went out (I only thought about praying it stayed off and canceled homecoming for about 2 1/2 seconds. Good job, Mom.), got dressed, fully dressed some would say: "Who cares what they're wearing From Main Street, to Saville Row, It's what you wear from ear to ear And not from head to toe..."
No. When I called home this morning and asked my husband, "Did you figure out if you have a belt for him that will work?" The answer SHOULD have been "NO." But it wasn't. There he stood dressed in black from head to toe (with a smile) except for that big brown belt circling his waist. Problem. Sensing just one of my not so endearing glances, Troy heads upstairs and comes down with a handful of black belts. Much better. Doing whatever it took to make one fit occupied him to the kitchen for a few minutes which left M and I with an untied tie. What do we do? Youtube, of course. Neither one of us could follow "Billy's" instructions but we had a blast laughing at the rolling comments of, "Thanks Dude, homecoming is tonight and...." and, "Me too, Dude. Thanks." Ha-ha! I told Mitchel to ask around to see how many got Billy's help tying their ties tonight. For us,Dad saved the night again.
The one unwelcome thing autumn drags with its onset is the dark early evenings. I knew, due to both of their sports schedules for the day, that it would be dark at the set meeting time leaving me unable to get any photos outdoors, so I tucked my camera safely in its bag. Denial? Perhaps. I tried to keep my son loose and took a couple fun shots with my phone, which are horrible, but just in case I want them sometime in the future they're there. I'm sure her parents have a camera handy and no photographic expectations of themselves. If all goes well tonight, I'm hoping they'll share.
Headed across the front sidewalk I watched as my son (wait, have I ever seen him in a tie before? I don't think so!) head out for his first homecoming. Sad? Not really, I am proud of the young man he is and I have no reason not to trust him. He's going to have a blast and he's in good company. His baseball buddies were excited to have him coming and he was looking forward to seeing all of them on something other than dirt.
I could stop here, but then you wouldn't be privy to my surprise. As soon as we shut the door I had to fix my little guy some Spaghetti-Os. Right there on my counter as I reached for the can opener sat my surprise. Baby Mitchel framed around "I love Daddy" scribbles. And then it hit me, what happened to that little boy in that frame? How could it be the same ten toes and ten fingers, the very same Dapper Dan smile and perfect dimple who just left my house? How?
Uh-oh, I need to get some tissues.
Again.
P.S. It's 10:33pm. He'll be home soon! ;)
Monday, October 11, 2010
It's a zoo out there!
Two more days and we're going back. My little guy has earned the title: HZTG: the honorary zoo tour guide. As we show our passes each Wednesday he enters through the gates with a march in his step. He has the gibbon call down to a perfect imitation (just ask the little boy who put in a special request last week), knows the various paths and how many steps each requires to get to each animal's home, and he never tires of riding the safari train through "Africa." That's where Ted lives! This fall there are several zoo babies that we love to go check on and see how much they've grown in the time passed since our last visit. Hurry buy Tuesday, we're waiting for Wednesday.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Football widow, not for me! We're Cheeseheads together!
Just over 23 years ago I met the love of my life. It was tough competition for me since my guy had a few loves of his own already. One of them was and is football. Friday nights he'd freeze a few toes off on the field as team chaplain for a local public high school. He loved doing that so much. Saturdays he'd try to fit in any sort of pick up game he could manage. Sunday afternoons between church services and Monday nights were reserved for what every true fan of football did at those times: watch the game. It became a time for sanctity (and pizza) when the Green Bay Packers were being televised. Over the years we've had a lot of fun planning the times we can watch a game together. Of course I love my husband for so many reasons, but I do love to love football with him. Go Pack, Go!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Love at first sight
Because we, Nicholas and I, love the zoo so much, we decided to take along big brother with us today. Pretending he was too tired to come with us, MItchel sure brightened up upon meeting this little guy. I think I heard them talking about being the 'tall' ones of the bunch and all that entails.
Truly though, this picture does show the relationship quite well and M really did love the giraffes. We spent a lot of time with them.
The more I gazed at and studied this animal, the more amazed I was at Creator God. Just in this one animal there's no other explanation aside from careful and meticulous design that makes a giraffe able to function. Even higher than the giraffe is tall, I stand in awe of my Lord and savior.
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them" (Psalm 69:34)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sitting on the dock of the bay, wishing so anyway
Vacation is something my little dude has been anticipating. Cheers were heard across the house and echoed into the neighborhood when I told N that Daddy was taking his vacation time next week. Together we looked at the calendar as I showed him how many days that was. Sadly, due to a death in the family our dog and house sitter fell through and we had to cancel our plans for getting away. Even sadder is that it's Thursday now and we've done nothing to make one little six year old happy with life. Shopping, waiting for his big brother to do or to get or, or, or, just isn't fun and it really isn't fair. So, tomorrow it's a big day for Mitchel but Mommy is going to make it a fun day for Nicholas too!